I’m Suzy Barker. I love to write and I adore photography. Oh, and I should mention – I’m an eternal optimist. My cup is always half full. Welcome to my website.

Do I Need to Know That?

Tonight sees the return of the pub quiz. The last one we went to was at the beginning of December so it’s been a nice long break from it, for me at least. My friends love a good pub quiz.

I attend these fortnightly events so that I can spend time with the people I love dearly. We all have a meal and a catch up in the pub prior to the quiz commencing at 9pm. Unfortunately, I fail to see the point in trying to answer random and obscure questions about subjects I have no interest in. Nor do I have the available brain space to store useless information for a “just in case” situation. As such I’m a loser at these gatherings.

My knowledge filing system contains all the stuff I need to know to get me through each day of running a business, a home, a busy family life and my various leisure pursuits in an enjoyable and practical way. And I reserve spare brain space for learning and saving all the new information I actively gather up every single day; I’m very selective about what I learn and save. I suppose you could say I’ve implemented a “need to know” policy.

I don’t think that makes me an ignoramus. It’s just unfortunate that the pub quiz questions have nothing whatsoever to do with me or my life. Now, if a quiz question were to be: Which country has .sk as its internet code, I would instantly know that the answer is Slovakia. I know almost every country internet code in the world simply because I receive email enquiries for our business from all over the world.

The other defining factor in my pure dislike of pub quizzes is that I haven’t a competitive bone in my body. I really don’t care if someone on the neighbouring table hears one of our team whisper the answer to a question; my teammates do mind. The only place I’m competitive is in the space between my own two ears. If I set myself a challenge then I will come out guns blazing and beat myself to a pulp. If there are two of us with guns then there’ll be no contest – you will win.

Tonight I will enjoy a meal with my closest friends, catch up on their news, and politely leave before the first question is called. It’ll not be the first time, and no-one will mind. They are my wise old owl midlife friends who know me inside out.